Railway-track layer



3 Sheets-Sheet 1,

(N0 MQdeL) D. F. HOLMAN.

RAILWAY TRACK LAYER.

Patented Apr. '7, 1885.

N. PETERS. Phofiblimognplwr. Winning! o a (No ModeL) 3 SheetsSheet 2 D.P. HOLMAN.

RAILWAY TRACK LAYER. N0. 315 034. Patented Apr. 7, 1885.

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(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

D. P. HOLMAN.

RAILWAY TRACK LAYER. V I No. 315,034. Patented Apr. '7, 1885.

1 1 H T I ll I I a will [ll-H cm 4 diidiz C II. PETERS.Pnolo-Lflhognpber. madman. u c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DANIEL F. HOLMAN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

RAI LWAY-TRAC K LAYER.

JPE II-IGA'IIDN forming part of Letters: Patent No. 315,034, dated April7. 1885.

Application filed September 29, 1883. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, DANIEL F. HOLMAN, a citizen of the United States,residing in Ohioago, county of Cook, and State of Illinois, haveinventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Railway-Track Layers, of whichthe following is a specification.

This invention relates to that class of tracklayers in which a train ofcars is provided along each side with a tramway upon which the rails andties, as they are unloaded from the cars, are first placed and thencarried forward to the front end of the train, at which point they aredelivered onto the road. tofore these tramways have been made insections, with each section substantially equal in length to the lengthof a car, and supported from the latter with its ends coincident withthe end of the car, so that spaces shall be left between the sections,in order to provide for the backing and starting of the train, and alsoto allow the train to turn or stand on curves in-the road. The ties andrails unloaded from the cars and placed upon such tramways have been fedforward by manual labor, and in order to admit of their being thusmanipulated the tramways have been adjusted so as to incline downwardlyfrom the rear to the front end of the train; but by reason of suchconstruction and arrangement objectionablespaces or gaps occur atintervals in the tramway, so that ties, especially, are liable to beimpeded in their progress; also, difficulty arises when high and lowcars or cars of unequal width are used in the train, or when theroad-bed is uneven, since one section of the tramway will be eitherhigher than the next or to one side thereof, thereby presenting abruptobstructions in the tramway. Again, when the train is standing on acurve, sharp angles will necessarily occur in the tramway, so that tiesor rails cannot pass the same.

The object of my invention is to obviate ---such defects, and a furtherobject is to provide a continuous sectional and jointed tramway adaptedboth for high and low cars and for cars of unequal widths; and to suchend I hinge the ends of the sections of a tramway together and arrangethe said sections so that their ends shall come at or about the middleportions of the cars; also to provide a sectional tramway which when thetrain is on a curve shall not present sharp angles, and shall allow moreplatform of the cars.

Hereready manipulation of the ties and rails; and to this end I elevatethe tramway above the Further objects are to provide novel means forsupporting and for raising or lowering the tramway at any desired pointor points, said supports being also designed to prevent injury to thetramway when the train is backing or starting forward, and to allow thetrain to back" or start without disturbing the tramway; also to providecertain auxiliary devices for usein connection with a box-car in thetrain, all as hereinafter described and claimed, and illustrated in theannexed drawings, in Which- Figure 1 represents in perspective atracklayer constructed in accordance with my invention and stationedupon the road in readiness for operation. Fig. 2 is a plan View of aportion of a tramway adapted for ties, and illustrates aportion of theendless chain or carrier. Fig. 3 is alongitudinal section throughaportion of the same on an enlarged scale, and Fig. 4 is a transversesection. Fig. 5 is a plan view of a tramway more especially adapted forrails, and Fig. 6 is a transverse section on an enlarged scale. Fig. 7is a perspective view of a sleeve or socket-piece adapted to receive thestandard or leg portion of one of the brackets employed for supportingthe tramways and Fig. 8 is a view, partly in section and partly inelevation, representing one of the said' cars and a tramway runningalongside the same. Fig. 11 is'a top or plan View showing twoplatform-cars and a section of each one of the tramways, said view beingdesigned to illustrate the position of said sections when the train ison a curve. Fig. 12 is an enlarged perspective view illustrating aportion of the platform and one of the hangers designed for supportingthe same in front of a box-car door. Fig. 13 illustrates, partly insection and partly in elevation, a portion of a loaded box-car with oneof the detachable supports for a tramway. Fig. 14 illustrates a portionof the doorway of a boxcar and a different form of support for atramway. I

In Fig. 1 I have shown a train of cars loaded Fig. I

.with rails and ties, and having a sectional jointed tramway along eachside of the train, one of these tramways being adapted for ties and theother for rails. I have also illustrated a tool-car, 1, at the front ofthe train, and a chute, 2, for receiving the ties from one of thetramways and delivering the ties on the road. This chute is hinged atone end and suspended by a cable, 3, by means of which it can be swungor shifted laterally, in order to bring it into proper position fordelivering the ties.

The tramway A for ties, which consists of parallel bars with spools orrollers intermediate of and journaled in the same, is ren deredefficient as a conveyer for the, ties by means of an endlesssprocket-chain, A, running over the spools, and propelled by a suitablesprocket-wheel at one of the ends of the tramway, one of said wheels, A,being shown in both Figs. 2 and 3.

The rollers of the tramway are made of metal, and are provided at theirends with annular flanges to prevent the endless chain from shiftingagainst the'side bars. It is also proposed to'make these rollers hollow,and of metal, and to mount such construction of roller on a stationaryaxle which passes through the closed ends of the roller, whereby thebearing is entirely at the ends of the roller. Power for driving one ofthese wheels can be derived from an engine located upon the tool-car 1,as in Fig. 1, in which it will be seen that the driving-shaft b carriesat one end one of the sproeketwheels A-. The shaft at this end will notbe journaled in the tramway, whereby liability of damage by reason ofanyshock or concussion will be avoided; but, if desired, suitableconnection could bermade between a sprocketwheel at the other end of thetramway and a locomotive used at the other end of the train to drive thelatter. By employing such endless carrier for the ties the tramway canbe arranged on a level, and hence all of the objectionable features ofan inclined tramway are avoided, among which latter stand promi nent thedifficulty of employing an inclined tramway on a long train. 7 In orderto further facilitate the travel of ties along the tramway, and to avoidsuch friction as would be caused by the rubbing ofa tie against the sideof either one of the side bars of the tramway, I bevel both inner sidesof said bars of the tramway, as at a, Fig. 4, and at suitable intervalsalong said beveled sides I provide antifriction wheels or rollers Aagainst which the ties will strike in the event of their shifting toeither side of the tramway as they are carried forward. For rails,however, I prefer the constructionshown in Figs. 5 and 6, in which Ihave shown the rollers c of the tramway 0 made flaring at both ends, soas to form in each roller a groove or annular concavity, which serves asa guard for the rail. These rollers have their journals mounted insuitable bearings, 0, in or on the side bars of the tramway.

Having thus described the construction of the tramway, I will nowproceed to describe the manner in which I connect together the sectionsthereof,and the same alongsideatrain. Each section of a tramway, in lieuof having its ends terminating at the ends of a car, has its endsrespectively terminating at or about the middle oftwo contiguous cars,as shown in Fig. 1, so that no objectionable spaces shall occur betweenthe ends of the sections of tramway, but, to the contrary, a continuoustramway be formed. The tramway-sections are hinged together at theirmeeting ends, so as to form a continuous jointed tramway, the joints ofwhich are situated at points at or near the center or length of the car.By disposing and connecting the tramway-sections in this manner it willbe observed that the side of the car will be tangent to the circledescribed by the central points of the side of the car. The sectionswill be chords to the same circle, and said circle or its component arcswill be less than the arcs described by any point of the end of the car,and hence the ends of this tram attached to the center of the cardescribe a less curve than the ends of the car. It will also be observedthat by this arrangement of the trams their ends are not subject to alateral vibration, tending to throw the meeting ends of the two tramsout of alignment with each other, for this lateral vibration increasesfrom the center of the car toward its ends and attains its maximum atthe point between the meeting ends of the two cars, while at the centerof the car it is reduced to a minimum, and to such a degree that themeeting ends of both trams partake simultaneously of the same movementof the car, and are therefore at all times maintained in alignment witheach other. The contiguous ends of these sections of tramway areflexibly connected together by means of hinges D, secured to the ends ofthe sections, and preferably of the strap form shown in Fig. 9, and inorder to allow the tramway to bend at these joints, and also to allowthe cars to turn or stand on curves, each tramway will be placed abovethe level of the platform-cars employed in the train. One leaf of ahinge is rigidly secured to one section of the tramway, while theremaining leaf of the hinge is connected with the opposing end portionof the next succeeding section by means of a yielding connection ,so asto prevent breakage and allow for the necessary lengthening of one andshortening of the other of the two tramways while the train is on acurve. As shown,

each side of a platform-car.

unbroken tramway, and also prevent the occurrence of two acute angleswhen the train is standing on a curve. In order to adapt the tramway tocars of different heights and widths without causing any obstruction inthe tramways, I provide the following means for supporting and forraising or lowering the tramways at any desired point, so that at suchpoint as either or both tramways may be raised there shall be no abruptinclination. At'intervals along the sides of the cars I provide verti-Cally-adjustable brackets E, (see Fig. 8,) two of said brackets beingusually sufiicient for These brackets consist each of a verticalstandard, 0, having at its top end an arm, 6. This arm is pro vided withrollers a", on which the tramway rests, and it is further provided withtwo up right fingers, 6 that serve as axles for antifriction rollers cfor the sides of the tramway. By such arrangement the tramway will notbe strained or injured when the train is back ing or moving up. Thestandard portion of this bracket is adjustably held in a metal sleeve orsocket, F, and as a means for maintaining the bracket in adjustment itsstandard port-ion is provided with a line of perforations, f, into anyone of which a bolt or pin passed through the sleeve or socket can beinserted. The socket-piece F shown in Fig. 7 can be made open along oneside, and is adapted to fit in the usual pocket,G, (shown in section,Fig. 8,) it being customary to provide such pockets along the sides of acar. The socket-piece is further provided with ledge f which, when thesocket-piece is fitted in the pocket,will rest upon the latter, andthereby hold the socket-piece in place.

As a means for steadying and holding the socketpiece tightly within thepocket, the former is provided upon its exterior with one or morewedge-shaped ribs, f which, when the socket-piece is fitted in apocket,will bind against the inner wall of the latter. It willbeevident, however, that the precise form of socket-piece herein shownneed not be strictly adhered to, the, main point being a socketpiecethat shall be capable of receiving the standard portion of a bracket,and which can be readily fitted in any one of the pockets on a car andprevent wabbling of the bracket under-all circumstances. By thusmaintaining the tramways above the level of a platform-car it will beseen from Fig. 11, in which two sections of a tramway are shown, thatwhen the train is either rounding or standing upon a curve any twoopposite sections of the tramways will preserve their parallelism andallow the two opposing corners of two coupled cars to swing round underone of the sections. It will be understood, however, that in travelingwith a loaded train the tramways can be lifted off their brackets andhung on the same, so as to be out of the way of the load on the cars,thus presenting no obstruction to the rounding of sharp curves while notin use. In a train of this character it may be desirable to make it upwith one or more box cars, as in Fig. 10, in which a box-car is shownbetween two platform-cars. In such event the tramways elevated above theplatform-cars will pass alongside the box-car and be provided with thehingejoints at or about the middle of the box-car.

. In Fig. 13 I have shown means for supportin g a tramway alongside aboxcar, said means consisting of a stake or bar, H, having one endadapted to be driven under the ties when the car is loaded. This bar hasalug, h,whioh will rest against the car, thus not only serving as astop, which will limit the extent to which the bar can be driven inunder the pile of ties, but also act as a brace for the bar when drivenin, as shown, said lug being adj ustably secured to the bar, if desired.The outer end of the bar constitutes a support for the tramway, whichrests upon a pair of wheels or rollers, h h, arranged on the bar, likethe support shown in Fig. 8. This bar has also suitable vertical fingersconstituting axles for a pair of anti-friction rollers, 71 for the sidesof the tramway. To uphold this support, I run a chain, 1, from its outerend up to a staple or any other fixture near the upper part of the car.This support is intended for use when the car is full; but after theties have been unloaded from in front of the door the form of support K(shown in Fig. 14) may be used. The supporting portion of thisdevice-that is to say, the part on which the tramway restsis similar tothat shown in Figs. 8 and 13, the mode of attachment being different inthat it has a hook-shaped end adapted to embrace one of the door-posts,as shown.

L, Fig. 12,indicates a hanger suspended from the tramway and employedfor supporting a platform, M, in front of a boxcar door, it beingunderstood that two or more of these hangers will be used in front ofeach car. A hanging platform of this nature placed in front of thecar-door, and about two feet below the same,will provide a convenientstep for a workman to stand on and receive the ties delivered from thecar, and enable him to place them in position on the tramway.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the tramways are above thefloors or platforms of the platform-cars, and that hence workmen canwalk along the cars and have ready access to the tramways.

In some instances the endless carrier might be temporarily disused, orfor some reason or other taken off, and in such case the workmen canwalk along the cars and push the ties along the tramway without beingobliged to use the pike-poles, which are necessarily employed in pushingties along a tramway when the latter is below the platform, or on alevel therewith, as heretofore.

In conclusion, I may observe that the sections of tramway alongside thefront or tool car are rigid therewith, and that the sprocketwheel fordriving the endless chain is located between one of said sections and asec 1. In a railway-track layer, a continuous jointed tramway supported011 a plane above the level of the car-platform and composed of a seriesof sections connected together at their meeting ends by means of hingesattached to the tramway-sections, substantially as described, and forthe purpose set forth.

2. In a track-layer, a continuous sectional and jointed tramway havingthe ends of its sections maintained at or about the middle portions ofthe sides of the cars, substantially as described,

3. In a railway-track layer, a continuous sectional and jointed tramwayarranged above the level of the car-platform and having the ends of itssections meeting at points substantially over the middle portions of theside of the car, substantially as and for the purpose described.

4. The combination, with a bracket for supporting the tramway of atrack-layer, of a socket-piece constructed to receive the leg of 0 thebracket and adapted to fit in a pocket on the side of a car,substantially as described.

5. The bracket E, adapted to support a tramway, and provided withrollers upon its portion on which the tramway is supported,substantially as described.

6. The combination, in a track-layer, of the elevated tramway with avertically-adjustable bracket, E, provided with anti-friction rollersupon which the tramway rests, and with antifriction rollers constitutingbearings for the sides of the tramway, substantially as described.

7. The combination, with a sectional tramway for track-layers, of ahinge connecting two meeting ends of the sections and having a yieldingconnection with one of said sections, substantially as described. l

8. In a railway-track layer in which a tramway is supported alongside ofa trainof platform-cars, the combination, with a box-car, made up withthe train, of a stake provided with anti-friction rollers for supportingthe tramway at a point opposite the box-car, and adapted to be drivenunder the load in said box-car, and a chain connecting the stake withthe car, substantially as described.

'9. The combination, with a box-car, of the platform supported by meansof hangers in front of the car-door, substantially as and for thepurpose described.

DANIEL F. HOLMAN.

Witnesses:

W. W. ELLIOTT, OHAs. G. PAGE.

